Adolph goes diving!

It was an exciting day to be an Adolph- he was going
sailing and scuba diving for the first time today.  He
also got to wear a life jacket for the first time, AND
the First Mate let him take the helm while Cap'n
raised the sails.  So many firsts! He was so full of
happiness he nearly peed on himself- twice!

 

Ellie bug was all smiles all day long, too.  She and our
daughter Carissa love sailing, love the ocean, and love scuba
diving.  She was giving us her best " bow babe" look ;)

 

It was a poppin' good sail, all the way there.  All the
canvas was flying as we approached the seven mile bridge.

 

It took a couple of passes to catch the mooring ball.  Once
we were hooked up, it was time to shimmy into our
wetsuits.  I got stuck!

It took Cap'n nearly an hour to get all of our gear set up.  It's a HUGE chore
trying to get three divers out of a cockpit in a three foot sea.  We
were rockin' and rollin' on the ball.  Once you finally get your BC on,
you scoot your butt to the side, and let the weight of the tank drop you into
a backwards somersault.  Mom kept saying, "Is it really worth all the trouble?"

Oh, yeah, it's definitely worth the trouble...takin' selfies and holding hands
with your baby girl while you look at cool stuff- Totally Worth The Trouble.

I mean, really- look how excited these two are to be scuba diving!

 

Show off

 

 

Adolph was showing off, too. 

 

Ellie got photo bombed by a Bermuda chub.  Kenny calls them a "poopy
fish".  Thankfully, he didn't poop on sister's head!

 

We had a little mishap with Adolph.  He was in charge of the under water
camera which was clipped to his life jacket.  When Cap'n went for the
camera, somehow, Adolph wiggled out of his life jacket and shot to
the surface!  I think it scared him to death to be underwater- it really
is unnatural for a chicken. (unless it's a pot of boiling water, which
gives him nightmares).  Cap'n went to the surface on a search and rescue
mission, and thankfully he found him before the wind and waves
carried him to Cuba.  He was wrestled back into his life jacket and
away we went- down, down, down.

 

We played follow the leader since Cap'n knows his way
all over the reef.  First Mate gets turned around the
minute she goes under water.  It's just the opposite
of that on land.  The man can't get from point A to
point B without taking a wrong turn along the way-
even with a GPS!  Put him underwater though, and
he'll take you back to the anchor line every time.

 

We saw all sorts of cool stuff- like a blue tang and a yellowtail snapper.

 

and dinner- I mean, a grouper.

 

Adolph was very nervous when the lobster started feeling him with
his antennae.  The lobster could not figure out what an Adolph was!

 

Adolph hid in the First Mate's BC when he caught sight of the beady
blue eyes and razor sharp teeth on the green moray eel.  Sister was
back stroking, too!

 

We saw a queen angelfish, a blue parrot fish, and a blue striped
grunt in the background- all in the same shot.

Adolph liked the foureye butterfly fish with the black dot on their tail. 
The striped ones are called sergeant majors.

 

 

The yellowtail damselfish has neon blue polka dots.

 

The little yellow juvenile tang was adorable.

 

Can you see the blue head wrasse?

 

How about the razorfish? He's a little guy.

 



Adolph told Cap'n to shoot this hogfish for Frannie- he knows how much
she loves hogfish.  But, he couldn't. The reef is protected. There's also
a blue hamlet, two yellow French grunts and two squirrelfish here.



Here's another glimpse of a yellow tail damselfish with the blue polka dots.

Who can properly identify this little tropical???

This is your brain (coral) on steroids.  Seriously, it was BIG.

There are so many pretty swim throughs on this reef.  It was perfect :)

 

We came up from our dive, and were in a hurry to get off the ball.  The
wind and waves continued to build while we were underwater.  I don't
know how mom (or I) did not feel seasick today.  Sis was a little
sleepy on the return sail.  Being in the water and on the water all
day will do that to a person!  We'll sleep good tonight for sure.

 

We saw this sailboat turn around at the reef and it started to follow us.
It looked like One Gallon Don and Sandy.....

It was! And though they were gaining on us, Cap'n
held them off to our stern so they wouldn't steal our wind!

 

They had their kids, dogs, everybody on board with them!  We took
pictures of them....

and they took pictures of us!

 

Once we got back to the Gulf side, we were nose on into the wind.  Cap'n
lowered the sails, started Bessie, and fired up the grill.  We were
ravenous for some hot dogs and chips!  Ellie said she even heard her
belly growl under water. By the time we got docked, and got all the scuba
 gear off, rinsed, and hung out to dry, it was nearly sunset. 
A hot tub with Peter and Rita was next on the menu.

 

While in the hot tub we remembered it was $1.00 Taco Tuesday at the
Hurricane, so a late night dinner hit the spot.  Being on the water
all day makes you tired, and HUNGRY. 

 

Some hot wings and tacos hit the spot for a hungry, happy Elliebug!

 

G'nite, y'all!